Christmas Fun!

We have a Christmas Village that we put up every year.  We have used various places for it -- originally it was on a bakers rack that belonged to my mother.  Then, we moved it to a window seat. Then, we built risers to make it multi level and this year we were planning on putting it on two folding tables but I ran across the photo above and thought that looked like a real good idea. Maybe even to be used instead of a tree. 

I have a lot of collectible ornaments from my kids, from places we have visited and some with just sentimental value so I don't know about not putting up a tree but how great is this ladder idea?

I might be convinced to even think about Christmas this early with this idea.

A Rant, A Craft and a Plan


Ok, first the rant.  I went to Joann Fabric and Craft Store over the weekend to purchase some Wilton decorations for cupcakes.  While I was there I decided to look for some cute Thanksgiving decor.  I don't do much decorating but I love to set small stuff around just for color and atmosphere.  I was taken by surprise when I discovered that there was nothing there! No little pillows or pictures, nothing with inspirational words, nothing orange/gold/green -- no TURKEYS!  Instead I found myself in an ocean of red and green peppermint stripes! Really?  When did we do away with Thanksgiving?  Is this political?  Is this an effort to make American's forget our history?  If it is that easy to just simple abolish something as traditional as Thanksgiving is Christmas next? Probably not -- too much money involved there.  While I am sure it is just a "retail thing" my imagination makes me think there is something more sinister afoot.  If nothing else, America needs to slow down.  Way down.  We are just charging through life like a lightening bolt.  I don't like it.  Not one bit.  Something has to change but I am afraid that it has to be the people that change it because I don't think the retail society will do anything but get worse.  I for one am closing out the retail world until after New Years. Bah humturkey.

Rant over.


I haven't said much here because my daughter in law prefers her privacy and I respect that wish but, in the middle of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, we are expecting a new addition to the family.  A baby is due to my son and daughter in law in mid November so  we are planning for this event as well.  I was asked to provide some crafty items so I spent last weekend working on these and this is what I came up with.

It is common practice here to decorate the hospital doors with something festive to let the visitors know who is new and who is living in that room for a day or two.  I have done this with my other three grandchildren and this one is no different.  So, this is what I did for the door --

Painted some wooden letter with Wicker White craft paint and pink paint pen for accents

Sewed some pink fabric from the quilt to some green fabric and backed with fusible interfacing (Pellon)

Placed in an embroidery hoop and glued the edges down -- secured with clothes pins till dry

Blank canvas waiting for embellishment

Glued on the name and then a cute little wooden bunny.  The bunny was chosen because there is a bunny in the quilt fabric

I chose these ribbons to go with the colors of the fabric

Big puffy bows aren't my strong suit but it looks ok

Finished product! Hanging by a sheer white ribbon

I am making a quilt but I am not finished.  It isn't a secret so I will share some information about it.  It is a wrapping paper quilt -- or striped quilt-- the fabrics are peach/pink/green/turquoise and a stripe.  It is the striped fabric that also has a little turquoise bunny.  It sounds boyish but it isn't -- it is very girly and I really like the way the colors work together to make a very lively, yet babyish quilt.  I will post photos when done.

I was also asked to make a dresser scarf and a nightstand scarf.  I did that as well but I didn't have enough quilt fabric to use so I just chose a white fabric with very pale pink polka dots.  It will blend nicely with the quilt even if it doesn't match perfectly.  Unfortunately I was in such a hurry to get the project completed I didn't take photos but they were very plain so you can imagine what they looked like.

So, that brings me to "The Plan".  It has occurred to me that my record keeping practices need to be improved upon.  Maybe that should read "implemented" as I don't really keep records of any sort about anything.  Then, when I need to refer back to a project, a purchase  or a recipe I don't have anything to look at and my memory is good but I am finding that it isn't as easy to recall some things as it used to be.  I do have a recipe box which works nicely for the recipes but I decided that I needed a notebook for just that -- notes.  While in my neighborhood Target store the other day I noticed that they had cute little 5 X 8 loose leaf notebooks with all the supplies -- paper, dividers, etc.  I was headed out this a.m. to get one but one look at the pouring rain and I decided to look around and see what I had in the house that would suffice.

I just love it when I practice what I preach!  Shop your own house!  I found a 1" white loose leaf binder that is brand new, unused.  I still buy school supplies in August, even though my children are grown, and I have a huge supply of notebook paper.  I picked up a bag and what did I find but a new set of dividers.  So, I didn't have to go out in the rain and I didn't have to spend any money to buy what I already had.  I felt so accomplished! 

Now that I have the "household" notebook and a set of 8 dividers I am going to organize my purchases, recipes that I use routinely, ongoing lists, holiday lists, etc.  And I am keeping it where I can find it and refer to it -- no putting it away.  Oh, I also have a brand new box of page protectors so I can use those as well.

So, that is what I have been up to.  In the next few days I will be finishing the quilt and some Christmas projects I have started.  I will share all of it when I am farther along

Oh yes -- Happy Guy Fawkes Day to all my British family and friends!

I Admit It -- I Lied!

I thought I was done with Christmas posts but JLSHall sent me the photos of the ornie I made her so I thought I would share them with you.

Since JLSHall's name is Joy, this came already monogrammed!

And, the back!

I have had the fabric that I used for the backing for quite some time -- kept thinking I would make some holiday placemats or something but never got around to it so when I finished the little Joy angel, I pulled this out knowing it would be perfect for this project.

I really enjoyed making these ornaments.  I usually give the kids Hallmark ornaments so one day they will have some for their tree when they are grown but this year I decided to do more of a "do it yourself" sort of theme and these ornaments were part of it.  Next year -- more cooking to go along with.

Tomorrow -- my, as usual, late addition to "A View from the Window".  I tried to get the cat in the picture but apparently he/she doesn't want to visit on Thursday.

Christmas Has Past --

And it was one of the bloody worst holidays I can remember.  Now, you must keep in mind, that when my children were small, I can barely remember a holiday where one or the other of my children didn't have an earache or a sore throat or a cough or some form of respiratory misery.   But, this year was our first to spend in the emergency room.

Our holiday season began quite well.  We were invited to several "events" with my daughter, her husband and their small daughter affectionately known as Bean.  Not her real name, although it probably should be, long story, another time.  Anyway, we saw Santa, we ate out several times, we went to the Gaylord to see the lights and decorations, we were zipping merrily through the holidays and doing quite well.  Nobody was completely exhausted yet and things were getting done at a nice pace. Our weekly Advent lessons were anticipated and enjoyed. Moving on to Christmas Eve morning.  I was chatting with DD on the phone when she said something along the lines of "OMG, she's cracked her head open, gotta go".  Next phone call, was "how do I stop bleeding".  Next phone call, "what do I do if it won't stop".  Next phone call "why won't that damn ambulance get here".  Next phone call " we are in the ambulance, meet you at Cooks".  I finally got around to asking how large the cut was -- 1/2 inch but deep.  Five stitches in that tiny forehead.  The most unfashionable of bandages -- didn't go with the gorgeous Christmas dress at all but it did  make her look like she had bangs/fringe.  Have I mentioned that I am a nervous person? But, I don't flinch at blood so I'm all good -- sort of.

Church was fine although we were all shaken up.  The children's service is  always great fun -- it is so interesting to hear the children participate in the service.  Bean was in the middle of the fray so she was up for the challenge.

Didn't sleep too well that night, just worried but then, it is what I do best so there you go.  Christmas Day was spent at home with the kids coming over in the evening.  Our son didn't join us -- can't remember why, oh yes, I can,  never mind -- nothing unexpected here.  There was gift opening and a fantastic honey baked ham obviously cooked by somebody other than myself. The birthday cake for Jesus was good even though it is clear  that I can't write with frosting!  It was a good time.  Didn't sleep well that night -- oh yes, the mountain cedar is alive and well and pollinating profusely.  That will do it.

Monday and Tuesday brought us house guests in the form of DD, Bean and SIL.  Their heater was acting up and we had had a cold snap so they had an extended vacation with us -- great for us, not so swell for them.  Tuesday was spent with Hubs and I helping them out while they dealt with the heater people who don't seem to know much about heaters even though they are a large, well known company with really big trucks.  All of that was compounded by a gas leak at the meter -- gas company was out in a flash, took care of it and it was pronounced fixed.  The second heater guy was good -- it is fixed -- they are warm and all is good.  You probably haven't guessed that I am a nervous person.

So, that brings us to last night -- I was completely wrung out -- even a seasoned "nervous person" has their limits.  I have done a lot of soul searching and have made some New Year's Resolutions already.  After 61 years of holiday mania, family drama, striving for "perfection" and always failing in somebody's eyes, I am done.  Passing the baton so to speak.  I have officially become the Grandma that visits.  I will bring the bowl of potato salad or not.  I will help clean the kitchen or not.  Or I will sit home, watch my favorite movie with the Hubs and drink hot tea.  Whatever happens I will be living in the season, not of the season.  I have moved past the trappings of accepted and expected frivolity.  I will not be coerced or cajoled into doing things I don't want to do.  I will throw away every Christmas ad when they begin arriving in, what is it now, July?  I will participate when I want and send everybody good wishes when I don't.

I am tired and this rant will probably mellow over the next few months but I am serious -- I am  done.

Christmas Crafting


I have always wanted to do more crafting at Christmas but I never seem to find the time and, before you know it, it is too late.  This year I started early -- like in the summer -- but I can't show you photos of those endeavors as they are gifts -- that will be a later post.  However, I did decide to do a little crafting for our Christmas Village.

As you might know, I have been collecting Christmas village houses for absolutely years and years and it was always a joy to play with at the holidays.  The last couple of years, though, I have gone apathetic toward it --probably because of my former cat -- (he is still a cat, he is just not mine anymore).  This year, however, because the Hubs is home, we decided to get an early, relaxed start on it so we could actually enjoy the process.  You can see earlier photos of the village here. 

There is a tree in the middle of the village that we decorate -- sort of like Rockefeller Center if you use your imagination!  The year Hubs had his surgery, he couldn't really manage the big tree so we opted for this little one and it served the purpose nicely.  In fact, I am considering not putting the big tree up this year at all.  I digress.  Anyway, this year I decided to go with a "natural" look for the town center tree and this is what I came up with -- pine cones, paint, glitter, rusty jingle bells, ribbon and candy canes.  I think it came out rather nice, actually.

Adding little eye screws to the pine cones wasn't easy

All done

creamy white paint to add "snow"

that was a quick snow storm!

Added a little gold accent to the rusty bells -- later added white paint

clear glitter

never have used clear glue before -- it worked really well

can't see the glitter but it is there

wasn't really happy with this but it was done so I left it alone

added the ribbon hangers to the glittery pine cones

Hubs in the beginning stages of the "process" -- it takes a while to build a village

Uh - oh , the book props are coming out

Next blog you will see the finished village! We have added things from those first photos a couple of years ago and we have tweaked it until we think it looks "right".  Can't wait to see what you think!

Blog-All-Dressed-Up

In an attempt to get in the spirit of the season, I decided to dress up my blog which explains the new blog background. I am not sure I like it yet so it may change -- who knows. Guess you will just have to come back and check it out.

I am doing a lot of different things this year -- changing things around to spice up the season. I love tradition but this year, due to severe lack of energy, cedar fever and a good helping of Bah-humbugginess -- I decided to refrain from putting up my Christmas village. Well, all those reasons plus we need to figure out how to build some risers for it to make all the cords easier to conceal. Anyway, here is a photo from years past.


I added something new this year in the form of what is probably the cheesiest thing ever -- EVER. I bought THIS--

I really rather like him and, for some reason, he reminds me of my Aunt Velma who loved things of this sort. I even went to the website --- which is very clever, I might add -- and I registered him and named him. His name is Tuppy.

I can't forget about Tinklepaw. I haven't talked much about Tinklepaw or put up many of his photos even though he has quite a few -- he has traveled with us and enjoyed past holidays. So, I decided I would put up a photo now and here he is -- Jingle Bell Tinklepaw!




And last but not least, we bought a new tree. Usually our little tree goes in the middle of the village but this year, without the village, we opted for a taller tree. It is tall but very slender so I didn't have to rearrange the house to put it up. And, conveniently, it fits right next to a plug. You will notice that I have a little helper in this photo. Well, ok, little isn't an operative word here and, actually, neither is helper but nonetheless, here is Rollie taking in the tree trimming festivities.


Even though he is the incredible hulk of tabby cats, I think he is a very handsome guy, don't you?

So, that is where I am in the Christmas process. I have watched several Christmas movies -- "Going My Way", "Elf", "Remember the Night" and "New in Town" which isn't really a Christmas movie, I don't suppose, but there is lots of snow so it works for me!